Xcode

OS X is the world’s most advanced operating system, built upon a proven UNIX foundation and coupled with a GPU-accelerated desktop, intuitive networking services, and system-wide optimization for multicore CPUs. Along with the Xcode developer toolset, you have a powerful platform upon which to create engaging, innovative, and high-performance apps.

Cocoa Frameworks

Cocoa is an extremely productive high-level programming environment that gives you complete access to the full power of the operating system, including the signature Mac look and feel. Written in the dynamic Objective-C language, Cocoa provides exciting and animation-rich user experiences, but is easy to augment with your custom behaviors. With integrated support for the Model-View-Controller pattern, Cocoa provides a solid foundation for building state-of-the-art applications. With the Interface Builder tool, it is both easy and fun to drag-and-drop Cocoa controls to design your app’s user interface. Learn more

Complete Access to the OS

OS X integrates a number of easy-to-use technologies that play a dual role as great applications and system services. By following some simple patterns, your application can work with those services to provide powerful features that can be used by other applications. Your application can be driven hands-free with Automator or AppleScript, be made accessible to a broad range of users through VoiceOver, and have documents searched quickly by Spotlight. Cocoa can also help integrate your app closely with the rest of the system, record snapshots of your documents via Time Machine, display content through iChat Theater, and share a common Address Book database.

Create Beautiful Apps

OS X is built around a powerful, integrated stack of graphics technologies, including Core Animation, AV Foundation, Core Image and OpenGL. Working together, these graphics frameworks make possible cutting-edge user interface features including 2D and 3D drawing, animation, and multimedia.

Take a cue from the Mac desktop: it uses Core Image to provide the translucent menu bar. The Dock uses Core Animation for the Stacks popup view, and the smooth animation you see when Dock items are re-arranged. You can use these same APIs and built-in effects to get that “wow” factor in your application — or create your own unique experiences.

Powerful Foundation

OS X provides outstanding stability and performance. Built for 64-bit applications and multi-core processors, OS X gives you some serious horsepower. The foundational engine and simple API of Grand Central Dispatch ensures your application makes best possible use of all available computing power, gaining speed without the complexity of thread programming. Building for 64-bit takes advantage of an optimized CPU instruction set and more registers, terabytes of address space, and the ability to use lots of physical RAM. Whether you write games, gene sequencing, advanced medical imaging, or geospatial applications, OS X has the stability and performance to make your app fly.